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India batter Shafali Verma reminded everyone that she has participated in a lot of semi-finals in her career and does have a lot of experience when it comes to playing in the latter stages of international tournaments. Though Shafali wasn't even present in the Women in Blue's reserve list for the World Cup, she was summoned to Mumbai after regular opewner Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the tournament due to sustaining a hairline fracture on her ankkle while fielding in the recent clash against Bangladesh.
Shafali confident ahead of Australia clash
Shafali, who was leading Haryana in the National Women's T20 when she received the call-up, remarked that she was in good form in domestic cricket and expressed confidence ahead of the semi-final clash against defending champions Australia.
“I was playing domestic (cricket) and I was in a very good touch and talking about the semifinals, it’s not like it’s something new for me because I have played in the semifinals before. It depends how I keep myself clear mentally and keep giving myself confidence. I have played in semifinals before," Shafali said at the pre-match press-conference.
The 21-year-old also revealed that her teammates had given her a very warm welcome after she joined the squad. She further said that her confidence received a boost after having positive conversations with multiple teammates.
“When I joined the team, everyone was very welcoming and it felt good to see that and all the players I have spoken to have boosted me up," Shafali stated.
“All the players I have spoken to, coach, captain and even Smriti di, they all said that I have to play my game. There is nothing to panic about and when I am getting this kind of freedom, I will try to respect the good balls and I will obviously hit those who are in my length (hitting range)," she added,
Australia still unbeaten in the tournament
Meanwhile, India had lost against Australia when they had faced them previously in the tournament. The side led by Alyssa Healy asserted their dominance in the league stage by not only topping the points table, but also remaining unbeaten in the process. On the other hand, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. ended up finishing fourth after winning and losing three games each. It will certainly be a massive challenge for the hosts to defeat the defending champions and it remains to be seen how will they perform.
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